Iowa State Capitol- First Day

We couldn't believe it! We would be working with people in Iowa's seat of power. Derek picked us up at around 8 am so that we could get to the State Capitol early. From the outside, the building looked magnificent. We couldn't wait and thus, decided to go in. The security check point was similar to that of airports and the people were super friendly. Once we entered, all we saw were men and women in professional dresses running around. It was the busiest week of the year- Funnel Week, when the legislators would throw out any bills that weren't worthy enough.

Then we moved on to find our professional host for the morning- Representative Sharon Steckman from Mason City. We did not know where the House of Representatives was located; so we ended up moving around for a while before we found it. The entrance was full of individuals who were professionally dressed up. We went to the gate keeper and asked him for Rep. Steckman, who asked us to fill up forms. Then came Rep. Steckman after a moment's wait. She was very delighted and handed us our guest passes for the two days we were to be there for. She then talked about herself and the business of the week and got us arranged to have a tour of the building to get to know it better.

We were introduced to a nice lady who would be our tour guide for the morning. She started off by welcoming us and told us that the journey would be very interesting. She began by explaining that the Capitol had been lifted to add another storey to it. It was unbelievable but true. Further, she added that Iowa City was the former capital of Iowa before Des Moines took the crown. Another interesting fact was that the first building for the capitol was built by the natives of Des Moines, and it resembled the Old Main more than its present form. The tour guide guided us through the balcony area of the two houses and pointed out to the chandeliers. She added that the capitol had 29 different types of marbles in it and 12 types of wood. Also, the gold roof was made up of gold foil which took 2 years to put and a third of it would be lost to the wind. Overall, the guide was amazing as we came across many interesting facts about Iowa, including it being the first state to allow female lawyers. Cool indeed.

Later, Bibek was introduced to Representative Tyler Olson of the Cedar Rapids area. The two went around for a while to get to know each other a little more and a bit of shadowing. Liza stuck with Rep. Steckman. Everyone met for lunch and the hosts made sure the lunch was on them. Very polite!! As we had lunch, we spoke about the government systems of our respective countries and how it was that they worked. After lunch, we moved to the upper story of the Capitol. We then moved to the main House of Representatives which had seats for the Representatives and looked very cool with the chandeliers and the wooden chairs. Everyone looked busy with their clerks and as the House was in session, we were introduced in front of everyone which made us nervous yet it was quite fascinating. From here we learned that most decisions were made in the back, inside small committee and caucus meetings. We were to attend a Senate Appropriation Committee, which discussed on the allocation of budget. Focus was on the young and calls for balanced budget were being made. Since we were shadowing Democratic Representatives, the Reps. focused on education for all, including keeping the support for pre-schools intact. These meetings were interesting, as announcements were made at the beginning of the meeting followed by extended discussions between individuals from both parties. Votes were casted by saying "aye" or "nay."

We then moved on to a Caucus meeting, which surprisingly, we weren't barred from. Even the clerks were not allowed in these meeting but we felt proud to be there. Caucuses are behind closed door meetings of House Democrats or Senate Democrats for confidential subject matter.
The minority Leader of the House then called on to congratulate the Labor Committee as they debated for 15 hours non-stop. Furthermore, the committee members of specific committees answered any questions regarding their field of expertise.

We then jumped to other committee meetings, which included Democrats and Republicans. It seemed like most of the work here was based on discussions and dialogue!

At 5, we were done and we returned to our personal host's site, thanks to Derek. Once there, we had dinner as we were starving. Abbie cooked some really nice chicken with apple sauce and we talked over dinner about food as well. Nicholas was also enjoying his food.

After dinner, we decided to talk once again. Nicholas was also enjoying our company. We also took a few pictures together and then decided to go play some Xbox, as Nicholas was asleep. With the new system that responded to body movements, it was quite an adventure to play the new addition to the Xbox. Kevin and Bibek were playing away while Liza and Abbie joined in later. We also took pictures and decided to call it quits for the day after that .